City: Middletown, CT

Category: Accommodations

Telephone: (860) 854-6300

Address: 70 Main St.

Description: This inn was actually once a National Guard armory, and now features 100 guest rooms, 12 of which are 2-room junior suites with microwaves and refrigerators. There’s a heated indoor pool, a fitness room, and in-room dining. Even better, their king-size beds are actually king-size, and the inn is located right on Main Street. Walk down to all the shops, or up the hill to the stunning campus of Wesleyan University. There’s also an on-site restaurant called the Tavern at the Armory that features traditional New England cuisine, like rainbow trout fillets and lobster and tarragon salad, as well as some global delights like Moroccan chicken ($$$$).

City: Middletown, CT

Category: Education

Telephone: (860) 685-2000

Address: 237 High St.

Description: Established in 1831, Wesleyan University is a four-year liberal arts college located on 360 acres on a hill above Middletown. Wesleyan’s individualized approach to education produces the second most undergraduates in the nation who move on to achieve PhDs, especially in the sciences. With the van Vleck Observatory on campus, Wesleyan graduates more astronomy and astrophysics majors than any other liberal arts college in the nation. Music and film studies are among the other excellent majors: There are 40 in all, and about 29 percent of students double major, some triple major. Eighty percent move on to graduate school.

City: Middletown, CT

Category: Health Care

Telephone: (860) 358-6000

Address: 28 Crescent St.

Description: Middlesex Hospital is part of the Middlesex Health System, which aims to strengthen community health in a personalized setting where patients have access to the best advancements in research and technology. Middlesex has been named one of the 100 Best Hospitals in the nation by Thomson Reuters, and it is the only facility in the state to win the Magna Award for nursing excellence. Hospital services are extensive and include a primary-care network, the Center for Advanced Surgery, chronic-care management, occupational and environmental medicine, and nephrology department, as well as many others. Affiliates Marlborough Medical Center and Shoreline Medical Center in Essex both offer emergency care and other services, giving patients in Middlesex County additional health-care options.

City: Middletown, CT

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (860) 343-8288

Address: 335 Main St.

Description: This fine-dining Chinese restaurant in Middletown is the brainchild of Eric Leong, and he has pushed the boundaries past what we’ve unfortunately come to expect from this delicious and varied cuisine. He’s focusing on healthy, modern-looking dishes with a long tradition behind them. If that seems like a contradiction, it’s not. It’s genius. Try unusual but somehow familiar dishes like chilled Chinese eggplant, five-spice duck wrap, Silk Route lamb shank, and fruit-glazed crispy shrimp. Leong tries to bring in different styles from different regions of China, and his menu is a reminder that China is pretty much the size of all of Europe, and just as varied when it comes to its food. There are displays by contemporary Chinese artists, and if you’re interested in the history of the dishes you’re eating, the servers will happily tell you the tales.

City: Middletown, CT

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (860) 344-0222

Address: 98 Washington St.

Description: When owner Sammy Bajratarevic opened Luce in Middletown, it was just one of many Italian-influenced restaurants in the area. Now it stands out as clearly the best. Focusing on northern Italian cuisine, Luce has great dishes like veal scallopini, spinach-potato gnocchi, and porcini mushroom ravioli. They also serve aged prime beef, fresh fish, and raw bar selections (available only in the bar). The interior of the restaurant is warmly decorated with brick and dark wood; the glass-enclosed greenhouse allows dining under the stars in winter; and in the summer the sidewalk cafe fills up with eager patrons, drinking Italian wines and living la dolce vita.

City: Middletown, CT

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (860) 346-6101

Address: 728 Main St.

Insider Pick:

Description: At this location next to the Connecticut River bridge in Middletown, a ramshackle wooden diner served a hungry public in the early 20th century. In 1941 John O’Rourke purchased it, and five years later replaced it with the more permanent metal diner that quickly became legend. Try the French toast if you’re there for breakfast (or lunch, or dinner); the Irish soda bread makes it unique. Of course, you might also want one of their famous omelets, or an Irish Benny. For lunch or dinner, try the steamed cheeseburger or the kielbasa sandwich. In 2006 a fire ripped through the diner, but the community united behind it and brought it back from the dead only a year later. That’s a tribute to the food and camaraderie created at O’Rourke’s classic restaurant.

City: Middletown, CT

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (860) 346-9210

Address: 386 Main St.

Description: Known as “ION,” this is one of the most popular vegetarian restaurants in the state, just off exit 15 of Route 9 in Middletown. It’s been around for over 30 years, and since 1992 has consistently won accolades for its vegetarian menu. Inside you’ll find an art gallery displaying the work of local artists, and tables with chalk so you can draw while you’re waiting for your noodles or mushroom pizza. The sweet potato enchilada and the potato-spinach pierogis will have everyone wanting to go vegetarian. Try one of their wonderful juices, like the Bee Green (cucumber, celery, parsley, and agave), or choose from the large selection of organic beers and wines. This is a hangout for Wesleyan students, but vegetarians come from all over the state for a meal at this classic restaurant.

City: Middletown, CT

Category: Shopping

Telephone: (860) 344-0039

Address: 350 S. Main St.

Description: With 9,000 square feet of studio and gallery space, this cooperative houses more than just pottery, with 100 artists and craftspeople exhibiting their work in weaving, basket making, and jewelry making (and, yes, pottery). Classes and workshops run here, and you’ll probably see one during your visit. You can call ahead for tours as well. The time to come is Nov and Dec, when you can see all the crafts by everyone (and not just selected exhibits), and buy them at the annual sale. Call ahead to find out the exact times the Potters will be open.

City: Middletown, CT

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (860) 344-2950

Address: 721 Wadsworth St.

Description: If you’re just looking to step off the road and see an amazing waterfall, Wadsworth is the one. Go around to the “back” of the park by taking Cherry Hill Road south from Route 157, and park in the small lot by the Coginchaug River. Barely a hundred feet away, the huge, Niagara-style, 30-foot falls is also over 50 feet wide and is impressive in any season. This is also a great place to break out your fishing rod and try for trout. If you park at the main entrance, where swimming is allowed in a large pond, take an easy hike through the park to find the “little falls” on the blue trail. This long cascade down exposed layers of limestone may be little compared to the massive flume of the main falls, but is well worth a trip by itself. The entire network of trails is perfect for easy hikes with children or dogs, while still seeming like an unusual adventure.

City: Middletown, CT

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (860) 685-3355

Address: 283 Washington Ter.

Description: This 11-building complex, designed by Kevin Roche and John Dinkeloo Architects in 1973, highlights all the arts at once. The Crowell Concert Hall, the World Music Hall, the Davison Art Center, the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery, and a cinema and theater also host events and exhibits. Lectures, dances, operas, plays, rotating art exhibits, book tours, performance art, and more are available for your eyes and ears. The noontime talks and performances are free, and the evening ones are quite reasonably priced. The Davison Art Center has a nice permanent collection (check out the Rembrandt drawings). The Green Street Arts Center also offers classes to the public, such as dancing and drawing (860-685-7871, www.greenstreetartscenter.org).

City: Middletown, CT

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (860) 344-9139

Address: 238 E. Main St.

Description: The Connecticut River has plenty of fishing opportunities from Middletown south to the mouth of the river. You can take a canoe, rowboat, or powerboat, or just fish from the banks and wharfs. You’re likely to catch brook trout, rainbow trout, brown trout, shad, smallmouth bass, striped bass, catfish, American eel, and more. Landlocked salmon are also frequently caught in this part of the river during spring and fall spawning. They are protected, though, so after taking a photo, let them gently back in the water. The Fishing Factory in Middletown will help you get outfitted with equipment and bait, and tell you the spots to go for the species you are interested in. If you want a charter boat, there are quite a number, and owner Andrew Nichols will give you options and advice.

City: Middletown, CT

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (860) 346-2372

Description: This ridge walk is one of the most rewarding in the state, even though (or because) it is right above I-91. In 1 mile you will go from the parking lot on Route 66 to Pinnacle Rock, where you can see far to the west and north all the way to Massachusetts. To the west you’ll see Castle Craig in Meriden, and to the south, Sleeping Giant. You can follow the basalt ridge for miles to the north, continuing to gain great views. After dipping into Preston Notch, you will see a natural bridge formation on the next ascent. If you’d like to keep going, the trail continues over I-91 and up Chauncey Peak and Lamentation Mountain, one of the hardest (and rockiest) ridge walks in the state. By then you’ve left Middlesex County far behind.

City: Middletown, CT

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (860) 347-0495

Address: 119 Washington St.

Description: For kids 8 and under, this is heaven. The owner, Jennifer Alexander, wanted a place where parents and kids could play together, and has succeeded. There are two linked buildings right in downtown Middletown, with 13,500 square feet of play space. A number of different activities are available, like a sailing ship, a diner, a post office, and even a bagel shop. Kids will hoist sails, push streetlight buttons, sell produce, or play school at a giant chalkboard. There’s a video production theater and a number of instruments, a library from the classic tome The Borrowers, and a garden where kids can plant vegetables (really). This is intelligent play time, a place that will spur your child’s creativity even as it (thankfully) drains his or her energy.